Facial recognition to flush out China’s toilet paper looters

A years-long crime spree by Chinese toilet paper thieves may have reached the end of its roll after park officials in southern Beijing installed facial recognition technology to flush out bathroom bandits.

Park managers at the Temple of Heaven, an expanse of imperial landmarks in the capital, spent three years testing ways to foil the toilet looters, including fingerprinting and laser sensors, before they settled on the new technology, which was introduced over the weekend.

Elderly square dancers taking their bathroom breaks on Tuesday were greeted by a robotic voice: “Welcome! Please stand in the recognition zone”.

One by one, they obediently positioned themselves on a yellow square marking and watched their faces pop up on a blinking blue screen mounted to the wall. Then the machine dispensed their individual allotment of 60 cm of toilet paper.

If the same individual attempts to collect more bathroom tissue within nine minutes, he or she will be met with a polite rejection: “Please try again later”.

Toilet paper crooks have been known to take home entire rolls, smuggling them out in bulging bags that go undetected at the security gates.

The high-tech solution was welcomed by some of the park’s regulars.

Toilet paper crooks have been known to take home entire rolls, smuggling them out in bulging bags that go undetected at the security gates